Addressing Wireless Nodes

ABSTRACT

A user may point a control device at a controllable device for which control is desired, and the control device may detect the targeted controllable device. Additionally, the control device may detect a plurality of wireless nodes and list the available wireless nodes. For example, the control device may identify wireless nodes associated with a particular room in the house, or the control device may detect the wireless nodes within a certain range. The list may be a selectable list and a user may select the desired device to control from the list. Upon detection or user selection, the control device may establish control of the wireless node and initiate actions associated with the selected device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application61/330,771, which was filed on May 3, 2010, the contents of which isherby incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

As wireless nodes proliferate in all areas of life, a simple andpractical means to address and control the wireless nodes is lacking.For instance, a room, such as a living room, may contain multipleelectronic devices that are capable of communicating wirelessly. Currentmethods for addressing and controlling wireless nodes may not bepractical or efficient for wider deployment. For example, separateremote controls may be impracticable for a large number of wirelessnodes. User-programmed universal remotes may reduce the number ofdevices, but the setup and/or technical expertise required is likely toremain as a barrier for many users. Thus, current methods are limitingwhen it comes to a wider deployment of addressing and controllingwireless nodes.

SUMMARY

Disclosed herein are techniques for addressing and controlling wirelessnodes. The techniques may be used to address and control a singlewireless node but are also designed for use with a multitude of wirelessnodes. For example, the techniques may detect and differentiate betweena plurality of controllable devices. Upon detection or receipt of anindication of the device for which to control, the control device mayestablish a connection to the controllable device and may controlcertain aspects of the controllable device.

In an embodiment, a user may point a control device at a controllabledevice for which control is desired, and the control device may detectthe targeted controllable device. In another embodiment, the controldevice may detect a plurality of wireless nodes and list the availablewireless nodes. For example, the control device may identify wirelessnodes associated with a particular room in the house, or the controldevice may detect the wireless nodes within a certain range. The listmay be a selectable list and a user may select the desired device tocontrol from the list. Upon detection or user selection, the controldevice may establish control of the wireless node and initiate actionsassociated with the selected device.

In another embodiment, a method is disclosed for selecting anaddressable device to be controlled by a wireless transmit/receive unit(WTRU). An indication that at least one or more devices are within rangeof the WTRU may be received. A list of addressable devices may begenerated. The list of addressable devices may indicate devices that maybe wirelessly controlled. A location of each addressable device may bedetermined n relation to the WTRU. The direction in which the WTRU ispointing may be determined. A priority value may be assigned to eachaddressable device in the list of addressable devices. For example, apriority value may be assigned to each addressable device by analyzingthe relation between the location of the addressable device and thedirection in which the WTRU is pointing. The list of addressable devicesmay be provided to a user.

In another embodiment, a method is disclosed for selecting anaddressable device to be controlled by a WTRU. A list of addressabledevices may be generated. The list of addressable devices may indicatedevices within range of the WTRU which may be wirelessly controlled. Alocation of the WTRU may be determined. A usage context may bedetermined by analyzing the location of the WTRU and the list of theaddressable devices. For example, it may be determined that a user issitting in front of a television in a living room and wishes to controlthe television. A priority value may be assigned to each addressabledevice according to the usage context. A connection may be establishedbetween the WTRU and the addressable device, such that the addressabledevice may be controlled by the WTRU.

In another embodiment, a WTRU is disclosed to select and control anaddressable device. The WTRU may comprise:

a transceiver that may be configured to receive an indication that atleast one or more devices are within range of the WTRU;

a processor that may be configured to:

-   -   generate a list of addressable devices from, the list of        addressable devices indicating devices within the at least one        or more devices that may be wirelessly controlled;    -   assign a priority value to each addressable device in the list        of addressable devices;    -   determine the location of each addressable device in relation to        the WTRU;    -   determine the direction in which the WTRU is pointing; and    -   assign a priority value to each addressable device by analyzing        the relation between the location of the addressable device and        the direction in which the WTRU is pointing.

a display, the display configured to provide the list of addressabledevices to a user.

Also disclosed herein are techniques for collecting status informationfrom devices via the wireless nodes. For example, a control devicepointed at a wireless node may collect information from the wirelessnode, or the control device may received updates from devices within acertain range.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a system diagram of an example communications system in whichone or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented.

FIG. 1B is a system diagram of an example wireless transmit/receive unit(WTRU) that may be used within the communications system illustrated inFIG. 1A.

FIG. 1C is a system diagram of an example radio access network and anexample core network that may be used within the communications systemillustrated in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a local interaction between a controldevice and a controllable device.

FIG. 3 depicts supplementing the system of FIG. 2 with a connection to anetwork and a control node connected to the network.

FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate an example control device, controllable device,and control node.

FIG. 5 depicts a high-level diagram of how the pointing interaction maybe implemented.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example method for implementing a pointinginteraction.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example method for implementing a pointinginteraction incorporating a network and control node

FIG. 8A depicts an example control node that interacts via a convergedgateway, including possible locations of control node functionality.

FIG. 8B depicts a legend that corresponds to FIG. 8A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

Disclosed herein are techniques for addressing and controlling wirelessnodes. The techniques may be used to address and control a singlewireless node but are also designed for use with a multitude of wirelessnodes. For example, the techniques may detect and differentiate betweena plurality of controllable devices. Upon detection or receipt of anindication of the device for which to control, the control device mayestablish a connection to the controllable device and may controlcertain aspects of the controllable device.

In one example embodiment, a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) maybe used to select an addressable device that may be controlled by theWTRU. To enable the WTRU to select and control the addressable device,an indication may be received that may indicate that at least one ormore devices may be within range of the WTRU. For example, the WTRU maybe equipped with a directional antenna that may detect electronicdevices, such as TVs, DVD players, or the like, that may be within rangeof the WTRU.

A list of addressable devices may then be generated by the WTRU. Thelist of addressable devices may indicate devices that may be wirelesslycontrolled. For example, the WTRU may detect a TV, DVD player, and arefrigerator within a room that may be wireless enabled. The WTRU mayalso detect that the TV and DVD player may be wirelessly controlled. Ingenerating a list of addressable devices, the WTRU will include the TVand DVD player, but not the refrigerator, as the TV and DVD player maybe wirelessly controlled.

Using the list of addressable devices, the WTRU may assign a priorityvalue to each of the addressable devices within the list. The priorityvalue may indicate which addressable device a user may most likely wishto control. For example, the priority value may indicate that the usermay wish to control a television over a DVD player or a refrigerator.

Priority values may also be assigned to each of the addressable deviceswithin the list by determining a signal quality for each addressabledevice within the list of addressable devices. The signal quality may bea received signal strength indicator, a signal to noise ratio, or thelike. For example, an addressable device with a high signal to noiseratio may receive higher priority than an addressable device with a lowsignal to noise ratio.

Priority values may also be assigned according to how close anaddressable device is in distance to the WTRU. For example, addressabledevices that are closer to the WTRU may be given higher priority valuesthan addressable devices that are from the WTRU. To assign priorityvalues, the distance between each addressable device and the WTRU may bedetermined. Each addressable device may then be assigned a priorityvalue according to how close the addressable device is in distance tothe WTRU. This addressable device list may then be sorted according tothe priority values such that the addressable devices that are closestto the WTRU would be presented to a user before the addressable devicesthat are furthest from the WTRU.

Priority values may also be assigned by determining which addressabledevices the WTRU is pointing at. For example, a user may point the WTRUat a television in order to control the television. Because the user ispointing the WTRU at the television, the television should be givenpriority over other electronic wireless devices. To assign priority, thelocation of each addressable device in relation to the WTRU may bedetermined. The direction in which the WTRU is pointing may also bedetermined. For each addressable device, the relation between thelocation of the addressable device and the direction in which the WTRUis pointing may be analyzed. When the analysis reveals that the WTRU ispointing at or near the location of an addressable device, thataddressable device may be given a high priority value.

Priority values may also be assigned based on historical userselections. For example, a user sitting on a couch in front of atelevision often selects the television as the device she would like tocontrol with the WTRU. The WTRU may keep a history of the selectionsmade by the user. The WTRU may also record the location and time of theselection such that the WTRU may understand the context in which theselection was made. This usage context may later be used by the WTRU topredict the behavior of a user. For example, the WTRU may predict thatwhenever a user is within a living room and is sitting in front of atelevision, the user is likely to be interested in controlling thetelevision. Accordingly, the WTRU may assign a high priority value tothe television such that the television may be presented to a userbefore other addressable devices that the user may select.

Priority values may also be assigned according to a usage context. Theusage context may be the circumstances that form the setting in whichthe WTRU and/or be addressable device may be used. For example, theusage context may be the time, place, and/or location that the WTRU andor the addressable device are used. Additionally, the usage context maybe the relationship between the addressable devices and/or the WTRU. Forexample, a usage context may indicate that a DVD player and a televisionin a living room may be used together on a weekday afternoon.

In assigning values according to a usage context, a usage context may bedetermined by analyzing one or more of the following: the location ofthe WTRU, the location of the addressable devices, the time, the date,the place, the relationship between the addressable devices and/or theWTRU, the historical usage of the WTRU and/or the addressable devices,or the like. For example, it may be determined that the usage context isa user sitting in front of a television in a living room who wishes tocontrol the television. Priority values may be then assigned to eachaddressable device according to that usage context.

When priority values are assigned to each of the addressable deviceswithin the list of addressable devices, the list of addressable devicesmay then be provided to the user. Additionally the list of devices mayalso be ordered according to the priority value assigned to theaddressable devices within the list, such that a device the user maymost likely wish to control may be displayed before a device the usermay be less likely to control. The user or WTRU may then select anaddressable device from the list of addressable devices. For example,the WTRU may select the addressable device with the greatest priorityvalue. If the WTRU selects the device, then the prioritized list may bestored in the WTRU but only the selected device is displayed to theuser. In this case a means may be provided for the user to reject theselected device in which case another device in the list, if available,may be displayed to the user by the WTRU. When a selection is made, aconnection between the WTRU and the addressable device may beestablished, such that the addressable device may be controlled by theWTRU.

FIG. 1A is a diagram of an example communications system 100 in whichone or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communicationssystem 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content, suchas voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc., to multiple wirelessusers. The communications system 100 may enable multiple wireless usersto access such content through the sharing of system resources,including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communications systems100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as code divisionmultiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequencydivision multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrierFDMA (SC-FDMA), and the like.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the communications system 100 may include wirelesstransmit/receive units (WTRUs) 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, 102 d, a radioaccess network (RAN) 104, a core network 106, a public switchedtelephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, and other networks 112,though it will be appreciated that the disclosed embodiments contemplateany number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and/or network elements.Each of the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, 102 d may be any type of deviceconfigured to operate and/or communicate in a wireless environment. Byway of example, the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, 102 d may be configuredto transmit and/or receive wireless signals and may include userequipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, apager, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), asmartphone, a laptop, a netbook, a tablet, a personal computer, awireless sensor, consumer electronics, and the like.

The communications systems 100 may also include a base station 114 a anda base station 114 b. Each of the base stations 114 a, 114 b may be anytype of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one ofthe WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, 102 d to facilitate access to one or morecommunication networks, such as the core network 106, the Internet 110,and/or the networks 112. By way of example, the base stations 114 a, 114b may be a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B, an eNode B, a HomeNode B, a Home eNode B, a site controller, an access point (AP), awireless router, and the like. While the base stations 114 a, 114 b areeach depicted as a single element, it will be appreciated that the basestations 114 a, 114 b may include any number of interconnected basestations and/or network elements.

The base station 114 a may be part of the RAN 104, which may alsoinclude other base stations and/or network elements (not shown), such asa base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relaynodes, etc. The base station 114 a and/or the base station 114 b may beconfigured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals within aparticular geographic region, which may be referred to as a cell (notshown). The cell may further be divided into cell sectors. For example,the cell associated with the base station 114 a may be divided intothree sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, the base station 114 a mayinclude three transceivers, i.e., one for each sector of the cell. Inanother embodiment, the base station 114 a may employ multiple-inputmultiple output (MIMO) technology and, therefore, may utilize multipletransceivers for each sector of the cell.

The base stations 114 a, 114 b may communicate with one or more of theWTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, 102 d over an air interface 116, which may beany suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF),microwave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). Theair interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio accesstechnology (RAT).

More specifically, as noted above, the communications system 100 may bea multiple access system and may employ one or more channel accessschemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and the like. Forexample, the base station 114 a in the RAN 104 and the WTRUs 102 a, 102b, 102 c may implement a radio technology such as Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), whichmay establish the air interface 116 using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMAmay include communication protocols such as High-Speed Packet Access(HSPA) and/or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High-Speed DownlinkPacket Access (HSDPA) and/or High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA).

In another embodiment, the base station 114 a and the WTRUs 102 a, 102b, 102 c may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTSTerrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish the air interface116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and/or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A).

In other embodiments, the base station 114 a and the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b,102 c may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.16 (i.e.,Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000,CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), InterimStandard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System forMobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution(EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and the like.

The base station 114 b in FIG. 1A may be a wireless router, Home Node B,Home eNode B, or access point, for example, and may utilize any suitableRAT for facilitating wireless connectivity in a localized area, such asa place of business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, and the like. In oneembodiment, the base station 114 b and the WTRUs 102 c, 102 d mayimplement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN). In another embodiment, the base station 114 band the WTRUs 102 c, 102 d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In yetanother embodiment, the base station 114 b and the WTRUs 102 c, 102 dmay utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE,LTE-A, etc.) to establish a picocell or femtocell. As shown in FIG. 1A,the base station 114 b may have a direct connection to the Internet 110.Thus, the base station 114 b may not be required to access the Internet110 via the core network 106.

The RAN 104 may be in communication with the core network 106, which maybe any type of network configured to provide voice, data, applications,and/or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services to one or more ofthe WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, 102 d. For example, the core network 106may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-basedservices, pre-paid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution,etc., and/or perform high-level security functions, such as userauthentication. Although not shown in FIG. 1A, it will be appreciatedthat the RAN 104 and/or the core network 106 may be in direct orindirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT as theRAN 104 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connectedto the RAN 104, which may be utilizing an E-UTRA radio technology, thecore network 106 may also be in communication with another RAN (notshown) employing a GSM radio technology.

The core network 106 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102 a,102 b, 102 c, 102 d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and/orother networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include circuit-switched telephonenetworks that provide plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks anddevices that use common communication protocols, such as thetransmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP) andthe internet protocol (IP) in the TCP/IP internet protocol suite. Thenetworks 112 may include wired or wireless communications networks ownedand/or operated by other service providers. For example, the networks112 may include another core network connected to one or more RANs,which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 or a different RAT.

Some or all of the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, 102 d in thecommunications system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities, i.e., theWTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, 102 d may include multiple transceivers forcommunicating with different wireless networks over different wirelesslinks. For example, the WTRU 102 c shown in FIG. 1A may be configured tocommunicate with the base station 114 a, which may employ acellular-based radio technology, and with the base station 114 b, whichmay employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

FIG. 1B is a system diagram of an example WTRU 102. As shown in FIG. 1B,the WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120, atransmit/receive element 122, a speaker/microphone 124, a keypad 126, adisplay/touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, apower source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, andother peripherals 138. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 mayinclude any sub-combination of the foregoing elements while remainingconsistent with an embodiment.

The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purposeprocessor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), aplurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in associationwith a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application SpecificIntegrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGAs)circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine,and the like. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, dataprocessing, power control, input/output processing, and/or any otherfunctionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wirelessenvironment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120,which may be coupled to the transmit/receive element 122. While FIG. 1Bdepicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separatecomponents, it will be appreciated that the processor 118 and thetransceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package orchip.

The transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signalsto, or receive signals from, a base station (e.g., the base station 114a) over the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, thetransmit/receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmitand/or receive RF signals. In another embodiment, the transmit/receiveelement 122 may be an emitter/detector configured to transmit and/orreceive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example. In yet anotherembodiment, the transmit/receive element 122 may be configured totransmit and receive both RF and light signals. It will be appreciatedthat the transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmitand/or receive any combination of wireless signals.

In addition, although the transmit/receive element 122 is depicted inFIG. 1B as a single element, the WTRU 102 may include any number oftransmit/receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 mayemploy MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 mayinclude two or more transmit/receive elements 122 (e.g., multipleantennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the airinterface 116.

The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate the signals that areto be transmitted by the transmit/receive element 122 and to demodulatethe signals that are received by the transmit/receive element 122. Asnoted above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, thetransceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers for enabling the WTRU102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as UTRA and IEEE 802.11, forexample.

The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to, and may receiveuser input data from, the speaker/microphone 124, the keypad 126, and/orthe display/touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) displayunit or organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor118 may also output user data to the speaker/microphone 124, the keypad126, and/or the display/touchpad 128. In addition, the processor 118 mayaccess information from, and store data in, any type of suitable memory,such as the non-removable memory 130 and/or the removable memory 132.The non-removable memory 130 may include random-access memory (RAM),read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storagedevice. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identitymodule (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card,and the like. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may accessinformation from, and store data in, memory that is not physicallylocated on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or a home computer (notshown).

The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134, and maybe configured to distribute and/or control the power to the othercomponents in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitabledevice for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 mayinclude one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (NiCd),nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion),etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, and the like.

The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which maybe configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude andlatitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In additionto, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU102 may receive location information over the air interface 116 from abase station (e.g., base stations 114 a, 114 b) and/or determine itslocation based on the timing of the signals being received from two ormore nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 mayacquire location information by way of any suitablelocation-determination method while remaining consistent with anembodiment.

The processor 118 may further be coupled to other peripherals 138, whichmay include one or more software and/or hardware modules that provideadditional features, functionality and/or wired or wirelessconnectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 may include anaccelerometer, an e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera(for photographs or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port, avibration device, a television transceiver, a hands free headset, aBluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digitalmusic player, a media player, a video game player module, an Internetbrowser, and the like.

FIG. 1C is a system diagram of the RAN 104 and the core network 106according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may employ anE-UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communicationwith the core network 106.

The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 140 a, 140 b, 140 c, though it will beappreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs whileremaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNode-Bs 140 a, 140 b, 140c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with theWTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment,the eNode-Bs 140 a, 140 b, 140 c may implement MIMO technology. Thus,the eNode-B 140 a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmitwireless signals to, and receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102 a.

Each of the eNode-Bs 140 a, 140 b, 140 c may be associated with aparticular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radioresource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of usersin the uplink and/or downlink, and the like. As shown in FIG. 1C, theeNode-Bs 140 a, 140 b, 140 c may communicate with one another over an X2interface.

The core network 106 shown in FIG. 1C may include a mobility managementgateway (MME) 142, a serving gateway 144, and a packet data network(PDN) gateway 146. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted aspart of the core network 106, it will be appreciated that any one ofthese elements may be owned and/or operated by an entity other than thecore network operator.

The MME 142 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 142 a, 142 b, 142 cin the RAN 104 via an Si interface and may serve as a control node. Forexample, the MME 142 may be responsible for authenticating users of theWTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, bearer activation/deactivation, selecting aparticular serving gateway during an initial attach of the WTRUs 102 a,102 b, 102 c, and the like. The MME 142 may also provide a control planefunction for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown)that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM or WCDMA.

The serving gateway 144 may be connected to each of the eNode Bs 140 a,140 b, 140 c in the RAN 104 via the Si interface. The serving gateway144 may generally route and forward user data packets to/from the WTRUs102 a, 102 b, 102 c. The serving gateway 144 may also perform otherfunctions, such as anchoring user planes during inter-eNode B handovers,triggering paging when downlink data is available for the WTRUs 102 a,102 b, 102 c, managing and storing contexts of the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b,102 c, and the like.

The serving gateway 144 may also be connected to the PDN gateway 146,which may provide the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c with access topacket-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitatecommunications between the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c and IP-enableddevices.

The core network 106 may facilitate communications with other networks.For example, the core network 106 may provide the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b,102 c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, tofacilitate communications between the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c andtraditional land-line communications devices. For example, the corenetwork 106 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g.,an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interfacebetween the core network 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the corenetwork 106 may provide the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c with access to thenetworks 112, which may include other wired or wireless networks thatare owned and/or operated by other service providers.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of local interaction using a WTRU, such as aSmartPhone, as the control device 202 with a plurality of controllabledevices 204,206. For example, controllable device 304 may be a videodisplay, or TV and controllable device 206 may be a DVD player. As shownin FIG. 2, control device 202 may be a SmartPhone that may be used tocontrol the TV 204. To enable control device 202 to control the TV 204,control device 202 may analyze the DVD player 206 and TV 204 todetermine whether those devices may be controlled. Additionally, controldevice 202 may analyze the selection and behavior of a user to determinewhich device (in this example, either the DVD player 206 or the TV 204)the user wishes to control.

FIG. 3 depicts supplementing the system of FIG. 2 with a connection to anetwork 304 and a control node 302 connected to the network 304. Thesystem may also use other network-based sources 306 that may be queriedfor information about the controlled or controlling device, such ascontrollable devices 204, 206 and control device 202. The network may bea local area network, e.g., located, owned or operated by the user, orthe network may be a wide area network such that the devices may beconnected to the Internet e.g., cloud-based network.

FIGS. 4A-C illustrate an example control device 202, controllable device204, and control node 302, respectively, in more detail. For example,FIG. 4A depicts a control device 202, FIG. 4B depicts an addressable &controllable device 304, and FIG. 4C depicts a control node 302.

The control device 202 may be, for example, a WTRU, such as the WTRUdescribed with respect to FIGS. 1A-C. Referring now to FIG. 4A-C, thecontrol device 202 may have one or more air interfaces that enable it tosearch for, associate with, and exchange data with the devices to becontrolled. Examples of air interfaces may include, but are not limitedto, cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth, (infrared) IR, (radio frequencyidentification/near field communications) RFID/NFC, (visible lightcommunications) VLC, Visual (e.g., camera, camcorder), audio (e.g.,microphone, speaker), etc.

The addressable and controllable device 204 represents an examplecontrollable device for which the user may want control. Thecontrollable device 204 may have an air interface compatible to that ofthe control device, enabling communication between the control device202 and the controllable device 204. The controllable device 204 may bea WTRU.

The controllable device 204 may have profile data that uniquelyidentifies the controllable device. For example, the profile data mayinclude, but is not limited to, access technologies, a MAC address, IPaddress, or other ID, compressed photo or other image data, RFID tag, atype of device, etc. The profile data may be designed into thecontrollable device 204 at manufacture time, such as a MAC address, anIP address, or even a compressed photo that may be used to identify itvia pattern matching. Alternatively the profile data may be loaded atinstallation time or during operation. For example, an IP address may bedynamically allocated or a network specific ID assigned. In addition,the profile data may directly identify the type of device, for example,a light switch, a thermostat, a TV, a dvd player, a refrigerator, AVunits, video screens, garage doors, etc. The device may be identifiedusing a set of categories common to all the system components. Theprofile data may also include information about permissions required forcontrol, for example, the need for encryption keys or other credentials.The encryption keys or other credentials are datum that may be providedby a third party or another node, such as the control node 302.

The control node 302 may be incorporated into the system for providing adatabase of addressable and controllable devices. The database mayinclude information about privileges or authorization needed to controla device, and encryptions keys or other required credentials. Thecontrol node 302 may query an external database such as via theinternet, where the external database may be an internet or cloud-basedserver. The control node may also be part of a femtocell, access point,converged gateway, or a local server, etc that is accessible to, butphysically separate from the hardware hosting the database. For example,as shown below in FIG. 8A, the control node may be software hosted andrunning in a converged gateway (CGW), and databases may be part of theCGW. Thus, the external database may be something outside of the devicethat hosts the control node or part of the device that holds the controlnode.

Referring now to FIGS. 4A-C, the external database may provideinformation to identify devices and load data. For example, similar to acomputer download of drivers for a newly attached device, the controlnode may download data from the external database. The downloadcapability may be implemented in the control node 302, a controllingdevice 202, or a controllable device 204. The control node 302 mayinclude algorithms to validate and authenticate the controllabledevice(s) and/or control device(s). The validation and authenticationfunctions may verify that the devices have not been tampered with, haveno malware that may attempt rogue operations, identify authorized users,and identify whether a user is authorized to perform an attemptedaction.

As shown in FIG. 4C, the control node 302 may include databases, such asdevice database 402, that may contain information about the device IDs,and parameters that may be used to validate and authenticate thedevices. As described above, the databases may be separate components,independently connected to a network.

In an embodiment, a user may point a control device 202 at acontrollable device, such as controllable device 204, for which controlmay be desired, and the control device may detect the targetedcontrollable device. In another embodiment, the control device maydetect a plurality of wireless nodes and list the available wirelessnodes.

An example of an implementation is to point the mobile towards thedesired device and have its name appear on the screen. Once the usertargets the appropriate device, the mobile terminal may then specifywhat actions may be done by, for example, displaying a device-specificmenu or touch-screen capable control screen. For example, the user maypoint at the refrigerator. The list displayed might include “readinternal temperature,” “set internal temperature,” “get days left onwater filter,” etc. The mobile device may have an icon, such as arefrigerator icon, and the selections may be available using a rightclick, touch screen interface, soft key, keypad selection, or similarmechanism.

The use of the control device as disclosed herein may replace orsupplement the use of remote controls in the home and communicate withany number of smart devices in the home. Use cases may be as simple asturning things such as lights on or off. The control device may alsofunction to collect status information from devices, for example, alight reporting remaining expected life. Many other use cases may beenvisioned for the pointing approach, such as: kiosks, information onproducts, interfaces for vending machine, smart signs, etc.

A simple prototype to demonstrate the pointing concept may beimplemented as follows:

-   -   1) Use a directional antenna in a control device, such as a        SmartPhone or other mobile terminal. The prototype may use        Bluetooth and, for example, a ‘cantenna’ (antenna in a can) to        make the propagation directional, for example.    -   2) Perform an inquiry that returns an received signal strength        indicator (RSSI) measurement.    -   3) Select the device with the greatest RSSI.

FIG. 5 depicts a high-level diagram of how the pointing interaction maybe implemented. For example, implementation of the pointing interactionmay be initiated when a user activates a directional discovery processapplication 504. In turn, the application 504 may begin discovery at506, starting available drivers 502 that support the mode of discovery.The drivers may report back, at 508, the results in ranked lists, andthe application may present the user with the top ranking device. Forexample, the application 504 may display a name or a name with an icon.The icon may be retrieved from the device itself, cached in the UE,retrieved from a controlled device, retrieved from the control node, orretrieved from the Internet. The user may look at other possible devicesreturned in the list, if the top ranking one is not correct. The usermay then select the desired device. The driver 502 that reported theselected device may then be queried on how to interact and control thedevice.

The pointing and control functions may be performed by the same driveror protocol or they may be performed by a different driver or protocol.For example, the pointing may be the discovery method that results inthe identification of the device to the user and how to control thedevice thereafter. However, the control may be performed by a differentset of protocols and/or drivers

Protocols for pointing discovery may be implemented in a single driveror a plurality of drivers. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, possibleprotocols for pointing discovery may each be implemented as a driver502. Possible protocols for pointing discovery may include, but are notlimited to, any one or combination of the following:

-   -   Use a directional antenna and RSSI to find devices being pointed        at (as described in the example above using, for example,        Bluetooth). The directional antenna may have a fixed pattern, or        may use means of adaptive beam forming to maximized received        signal power in one direction or minimize interference in other        directions.    -   Use a function of distance from transmitter, transmit power, and        received power to determine if a device is pointing at another.        Distance may be determined by doing a timing calculation or by        another distance sensor (like one used for the camera focus        perhaps). The transmit power measurement would be transmitted by        the transmitter. Distance may not be necessary in confined areas        such as a room.    -   If no directional antenna is available, RSSI could still be used        to make a best attempt at detecting devices nearby.    -   Using the location of both transmit and receive devices relative        to each other and a directional vector (compass) from the        receive devices. The location of transmit devices would have to        be stored in a database. This could be done in 2 dimensional        space (suitable for indoors) or 3 dimension space (outdoors).    -   Image recognition could be used to detect devices pointed to by        the camera. Tags could be used or the device could be trained to        recognize images.    -   The location of the WTRU may be recorded at two points in time        to determine a vector.

Assuming that the device locations are known, the vector may be used tofind any devices that may vector may be pointing to. For example,devices in line with those points that are in the same direction as thevector may be found.

-   -   VLC (Visible Light Communications)    -   NFC (Near Field Communications)    -   IR (Infrared.)

The addressing and control of devices may be a local function such thatthe addressing and control is based on the interaction between thecontrolling and controlled devices. For example, the addressing andcontrol functions may result from the interaction of the control andcontrollable devices without a need for communication outside of thecommunication between devices. The control device(s) and/or controllabledevice(s) may be connected to a network that participates in theactivity by providing a means to supplement data that is available,identify devices, validate devices, or authorize the control orinteraction.

The addressing/selection aspect, using the pointing methods describedherein, for example, may function in combination with service discoverymethods or may function separately. For example, service discoveryprotocols allow automatic detection of devices on a computer network.The point and select technique, however, enables a user to point acontrol device at a targeted controllable device and, via the connectionestablished between the wireless node and the control device, assumecontrol of the controllable device. While functioning via a computernetwork may supplement the point and select techniques disclosed herein,a network is not necessary for the control device to address, control,or monitor a wireless node. Further, the addressing/selection techniquesmay work differently in different contexts (e.g., inside with shortdistances vs. outside long distances) but the user experience may remainthe same, for example, point and select. Thus, in some ways, the controldevice may function similar to a remote control. However, the controldevice may detect the controllable device without a need forpre-programming or manually programming functional codes into thecontrol device for each unique controllable device, as required for manyremote controls. Further, the control device may function for any numberof wireless nodes, providing a user with a user interface thatfacilitates selection of the device for which control is desired.

An exemplary protocol may identify an object (e.g., controllable device)by a name and/or an icon as part of an inquiry. If an object is selecteda query may return, for example, an html web page for display. Thedisplayed web page may include links to other web pages allowing foractions to be triggered. Other methods could be used to keep the logicsimple, for example, a single touch screen menu display with a list ofoptions, series of icons, or graphic that resembles a remote control.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example method for implementing a pointinginteraction that elaborates on the implementation described and shown inFIG. 5. For example, FIG. 6 may apply to the prioritization of devicesbased on methods that use the pointing method disclosed herein or thatuse other methods for ranking devices.

The process may begin at 602 with the user attempting to initiatecontrol of a device by, for example, pointing, pressing a button, makinga menu selection, or executing any other technique for selecting adevice for control. At 604, the user's mobile device may scan foraddressable and controllable devices in the area using an air interface,such as one of the example air interfaces described previously. As partof this process the mobile device may accept devices it may address andcontrol and bypass (or reject) others. The decision to accept or rejecta device may be made by analyzing profile data received from the locateddevice. For example, a device may require encryption keys or othercredentials. Credentials may carry over from previous control sessionswith the device and some interaction between the mobile terminal anddevice may be required to check or exchange credentials. (If applicable,a Control Node may be involved in this process.)

If one or more addressable devices are found at 606 as a result of thescan, the mobile terminal may select a device to be controlled which mayinvolve the creation of a prioritized list at 610 (unless no deviceswere found, or only one device was found). At 612, the control devicemay display a menu or other context for user control of the selecteddevice. At 610, the mobile device may make a device selection based onthe priority or the user may select the device for which control isdesired. For example, the control device may display a menu having aselectable list, where the user may select the desired device for whichto control. More sophisticated methods may be implemented, such as voiceinput with speech recognition. Alternatively a map, image, photo, orother rendering of the local environment may be displayed with icons,coloring, blinking, numbering, or other method to highlight thecontrollable devices that the user may select by keypad or touch screeninput. A virtual reality approach may be used, for example, where thehighlighting is activated only when the controlling device is pointed atone of the controllable device or a user input via, for example, a touchscreen indicates the general area of the controllable device. If a 2Drendering is used, a 2D touch screen swipe may be used to make aselection. If a 3D rendering is used, a 3D motion of the terminal may beused to make a selection detected with accelerometers typically used inmobile devices and video game controllers.

If no devices are found, at 608 the mobile device may indicate to theuser that no addressable devices were found.

The prioritized, or ranking, list, may be based on signal quality, forexample, SNR or RSSI, as described as an example at 610. However, theranking in the prioritization list may be based on other factors orcombination of factors. For example, if location information isavailable or distance information is available (either a priori or basedon the scanning), then proximity or direction may be used as part of theprioritization. If the user's menu selection involved selecting a typeof device (e.g., the user pressed a menu icon of a TV), then theprioritization algorithm may include the user's device preference givingthe closest matches the highest priority. Matching the device preferencemay be based on profile data such as data fields that identify the typeof device. Matching devices may be based on visual info, image matching,or pattern matching for example if the mobile terminal “takes a picture”in the general direction of a controllable device, a pattern match maybe used to help identify and select it. The mobile device may create adatabase of Controllable Devices that were previously used by the user.Previous use may be a parameter used in the current prioritization.

Recognizing that the mobile terminal's top selection in the prioritizedlist may not match the user's desire, the process allows the user toreject the selection at 614. This may be as simple as including a rejectoption as part of the interaction offered to the user, for example, amenu selection or even action such as shaking or flicking the mobileterminal. If a device is rejected, and another addressable device isavailable at 616, the mobile terminal may step through the list at 618until one is accepted or the full list has been offered.

If the user is actively interacting with the control capability providedby the mobile device at 622, then at 620 the mobile device may executewhatever applications and communication protocols that enable control ofthe controllable device. Note that the air interface used to scan for,associate, and identify the device need not be the same air interfaceused during the interaction. For example, suppose the Controlled Deviceis identified by the combination of the mobile terminal taking a pictureand a Bluetooth association. Subsequently, the control may use, forexample, Wi-Fi.

The context may remain active as long as the user is interacting withthe controllable device and even for some time thereafter. Examples ofclosing out a context are at 624 and 626. For example, at 624, anactivity timer may be running and the context may expire when the timerexpires. At 626, a connection with the selected controllable device maybe lost, thus causing the context to also expire. For example, the airinterface connection with the controlled device may be broken and remainbroken for a predetermined time, either running out an activity timer at624 or indicating a lost connection at 626. At some point, such as aresult of the examples at 624 and 626, the full context or menu may becleared (or “minimized”) at 628 and eventually all related processesterminated.

FIG. 7 extends the process from FIG. 6 to a scenario where there is anetwork and control node as described with respect to FIG. 3 and FIG.4C. Note that the flowchart in 6 may replace the portion of theflowchart in FIG. 6 labeled “A.” In the example shown in FIG. 7, themobile device may communicate and perhaps associate with multipledevices but may not have the ability to identify and control all ofthem. In this example, a control node may provide this ability. Thus, at606, the determination may be whether one or more possible addressabledevices are found. As described in FIG. 6, the mobile device may selectthe device for control at 610. Or, for example, as shown in at 702 inFIG. 7, the mobile device may create a list if addressable devices arerecognized and are controllable. At 704, the mobile device may send thecontrol node a query with information about devices that were detectedbut not recognized or not controllable. The control node may process thequery at 706, and use the information from the mobile device to updateits own comprehensive data base of devices.

As part of the protocol, the mobile device may send location informationto the control node, or the control node may have access to the mobiledevice's location via some other means. In such a case, the control nodemay use this location information as part of its own database ofdevices.

From the list of devices sent by the mobile terminal, at 708 the controlnode may select from those devices and list the devices the mobileterminal is authorized to control. At 710, the control node may sendthat list to the mobile terminal along with any other parametersrequired to enable control. The control node may also check mobileterminal credentials and send encryption keys or other credentials thatthe mobile terminal will need to initiate control of a controllabledevice. The encryption keys or other credentials may have expirationtimes. Subject to the expiration times, the mobile device may have theoption to initiate control of the Controllable Device in the futurewithout involving the Control Node.

At 712, the mobile terminal may now add the devices from the listprovided by the control node to the initial list of devices. Thus, at714, the mobile device may select the addressable and controllabledevice at 714 and then continue with the processing at 610 shown in FIG.6.

It is noted that if the mobile terminal discovers some devices that donot need interaction with the control node, then it may continue theprocess of FIG. 6 and execute the interaction without the control nodeor execute with the control node in parallel. Thus, if the user selectsone of the offered devices, then a potential delay involved with thecontrol node interaction may be eliminated. Even if the user picks oneof the offered devices, the interaction with the control node may bedesired to populate the mobile terminal's database of devices toexpedite future interactions.

As described above, the control node 302 may be incorporated into thesystem for providing a database of addressable and controllable devices.FIG. 8A provides more detail of an example control node that mayfunction as part of a converged gateway, including possible locations ofcontrol node functionality. In particular, functions of the control nodemay be distributed among various software or hardware blocks in theconverged gateway. Examples of this are illustrated in FIG. 8A. FIG. 8Bdepicts a legend that corresponds to FIG. 8A. FIG. 8A shows a blockdiagram of the converged gateway (CGW) architecture, however, anyparticular implementation may include a subset of the functions shown.For example, the CGW may reduce to a WLAN Access Point, Femto-cell, HomeNode B (HNB) or Home enhanced Node B (HeNB). The Control Nodefunctionality may be integrated into, or distributed among, some of theCGW functions. Examples of CGW functions that may include Control Nodefunctions are identified in the figure.

Though the example embodiments described herein are carried out in thecontext of the transmitters/receivers described, it is to be understoodthat the technique applies to systems with any number of transmitters orreceivers that are compatible with the air interface technology ortechnologies employed. While the various embodiments have been describedin connection with the various figures, it is to be understood thatother similar embodiments may be used or modifications and additions maybe made to the described embodiment for performing the same function ofthe various embodiments without deviating there from. Therefore, theembodiments should not be limited to any single embodiment, but rathershould be construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the appendedclaims.

Although features and elements are described above in particularcombinations, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that eachfeature or element may be used alone or in any combination with theother features and elements. In addition, the methods described hereinmay be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmwareincorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computeror processor. Examples of computer-readable media include electronicsignals (transmitted over wired or wireless connections) andcomputer-readable storage media. Examples of computer-readable storagemedia include, but are not limited to, a read only memory (ROM), arandom access memory (RAM), a register, cache memory, semiconductormemory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removabledisks, magneto-optical media, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks,and digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor in association withsoftware may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for usein a WTRU, UE, terminal, base station, RNC, or any host computer.

1. A method for selecting an addressable device to be controlled by awireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), the method comprising: receivingan indication that at least one or more devices are within range of theWTRU; generating a list of addressable devices at the WTRU, the list ofaddressable devices indicating which devices are wirelesslycontrollable; determining the location of each addressable device inrelation to the WTRU; determining the direction in which the WTRU ispointing; assigning a priority value to each addressable device byanalyzing the relation between the location of the addressable deviceand the direction in which the WTRU is pointing; and providing the listof addressable devices to a user.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein eachaddressable device can be controlled by signals transmitted by the WTRU.3. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning the priority value comprisesdetermining a signal quality for each addressable device within the listof addressable devices.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the signalquality is a received signal strength indicator or a signal to noiseratio.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning the priority valuecomprises: determining the distance between each addressable device andthe WTRU; and assigning a priority value to each addressable deviceaccording to how close the addressable device is in distance to theWTRU.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning the priority valuecomprises assigning a priority value to the addressable devices based onhistorical user selections.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein assigningthe priority value comprises: determining the location of the WTRU;determining a usage context by analyzing the location of the WTRU andthe list of addressable devices; and assigning a priority value for eachaddressable device according to the usage context.
 8. A method forselecting an addressable device to be controlled by a wirelesstransmit/receive unit (WTRU), the method comprising: the WTRU generatinga list of addressable devices, the list of addressable devicesindicating at least one or more devices that may be wirelesslycontrolled; determining the location of the WTRU; determining a usagecontext by analyzing the location of the WTRU and the list ofaddressable devices; and assigning a priority value for each addressabledevice according to the usage context. selecting an addressable devicefrom the list of addressable devices; and establishing a connectionbetween the WTRU and the addressable device, such that the addressabledevice may be controlled by the WTRU.
 9. The method of claim 8, whereineach addressable device can be controlled by signals transmitted by theWTRU.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein selecting an addressable devicefrom the list of addressable devices comprises selecting the addressabledevices with the greatest priority value.
 11. The method of claim 10,wherein assigning the priority value comprises: determining the distancebetween each addressable device and the WTRU; and assigning a priorityvalue to each addressable device according to how close the addressabledevice is in distance to the WTRU.
 12. The method of claim 10, whereinassigning the priority value comprises: determining the location of eachaddressable device in relation to the WTRU; determining the direction inwhich the WTRU is pointing; and assigning a priority value to eachaddressable device by analyzing the relation between the location of theaddressable device and the direction in which the WTRU is pointing. 13.The method of claim 10, wherein assigning the priority value comprisesassigning a priority values to the addressable devices based onhistorical user selections.
 14. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU)to select and control an addressable device, the WTRU comprising: atransceiver, the transceiver configured to receive an indication that atleast one or more devices are within range of the WTRU; a processor, theprocessor being configured to: generate a list of addressable devicesfrom, the list of addressable devices indicating devices within the atleast one or more devices that may be wirelessly controlled; assign apriority value to each addressable device in the list of addressabledevices; determine the location of each addressable device in relationto the WTRU; determine the direction in which the WTRU is pointing; andassign a priority value to each addressable device by analyzing therelation between the location of the addressable device and thedirection in which the WTRU is pointing. a display, the displayconfigured to provide the list of addressable devices to a user.
 15. Themethod of claim 14, wherein each addressable device can be controlled bysignals transmitted by the WTRU.
 16. The WTRU of claim 14, wherein thetransceiver is a directional transceiver.
 17. The WTRU of claim 14,wherein the processor is configured to assign a priority value to eachaddressable device in the list of addressable devices by determining asignal quality for each addressable device.
 18. The WTRU of claim 14,wherein the processor is configured to: determining the distance betweeneach addressable device and the WTRU; and assigning a priority value toeach addressable device according to how close the addressable device isin distance to the WTRU.
 19. The WTRU of claim 14, wherein the processoris configured to assign a priority value comprises assigning a priorityvalues to the addressable devices based on historical user selections.20. The WTRU of claim 14, wherein the processor is configured to:determine the location of the WTRU; determine a usage context byanalyzing the location of the WTRU and the list of addressable devices;and assign a priority value for each addressable device according to theusage context.